Military Needs To Be Expanded, Romney Tells Hillsdale Grads

By: Joshua Boak

Toledo Blade

Sunday, May 13, 2007

"In a speech to Hillsdale College graduates yesterday about confronting a world filled with evil, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said America should combat radical Islam by bulking up its military.

"'There is no safe place if evil is unrestrained,' the former Massachusetts governor said during his address at the campus 80 miles northwest of Toledo.

"'The weak may hide, but they become weaker still, until at last they are discovered and easily conquered. History teaches us this: The best ally of peace is a strong America.'

"Mr. Romney proposed adding 100,000 troops and keeping defense spending at 4 percent or more of America's gross domestic product, a remark that garnered applause from the families and friends of Hillsdale's 306 listed graduates."

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"Graduates gave a standing ovation to classmate Marine Lance Cpl. Aaron Hummel, who spent much of the past academic year in Iraq patrolling the city of Fallujah. The class raised $6,782 to help Mr. Hummel complete his Hillsdale education next year.

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"Romney suggested consolidating all U.S. foreign aid agencies into one entity that could deliver social services to poorer nations, explaining that 'only Muslims will be able to defeat radical jihad.'

"Mr. Romney also encouraged economic resilience and called for higher education standards, less taxation and regulation, and a shift toward energy independence." ...

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